Carnivorous Plants in Hanging Terrariums

I used to keep a lot of beta fish as pets. I had a row of fish bowls lined up on my counter top, and a couple of hanging fish bowls above my couch. I adored the bright and colorful companionship of my fish, and lived with them for many years. As my sweet swimmy friends would pass away, I would clean up their bowls, and put them into storage. I’ve re-used a few of my fish bowls for other projects (like the table-top water garden), but hadn’t thought about the hanging fish bowls until this past weekend when I decided to combine a few small carnivorous plants to make hanging terrariums.

I have lots of carnivorous plants in my garden, and right now is the perfect time of year to start re-potting the plants that have outgrown their containers! Since I was already in the re-potting mood, (and had re-discovered my nifty hanging aquariums), I selected a few specific carnivores, and got to work making terrariums.

The plants I selected were (clockwise from top): Two small Sarracenia (trumpet plants) that I had grown from seed, and knew would stay small this year, two types of Pinguicula (butterworts) with lovely cheery flowers, and some Drosera capensis (basically a sticky-armed carnivorous weed in my garden.)

Carnivorous plants grow naturally in soil with very little nutrients, so instead of using a nutrient-rich potting soil which would likely kill them, I used a mixture of peat moss, sand and perlite. I wet the mixture with pure water (rain water, distilled, or reverse osmosis), and securely planted them in the plastic vessel.

The shallow roots of the Pinguicula

I planted my Sarracenia in the center of the terrarium so that it could grow up and out of the opening. Normally, I keep Sarracenia in plastic pots sitting in trays of water. I re-pot them every year, and will more than likely remove this Sarracenia from the terrarium next year, as it will become too large for the container. I added a plastic Saber-tooth tiger to the mix for good measure and hung my terrariums outside in the garden. These plants love bright sun, and lots and lots of clean water, so I placed them in a highly visible area (so that I won’t forget about them and allow them to dry out too much!)

As you can see, one of my plastic fish tanks is much more clear than the other… when washing your PLASTIC fish tanks, take care not to use a highly ABRASIVE sponge as it will completely scratch up the plastic. (Duh Megan!)

View from the top

Since these terrariums are clear, they also look pretty cool hung back-to-back. For carnivorous plants, check your local nursery, major home-repair shop (like Lowes or Home Depot) or look online! If you are interested in making your own hanging carnivorous terrariums, or keeping beta fish above your couch like I did, here’s where I got the hanging bowl:

I’ve been arguing with my husband about getting a beta for our living room coffee table. He thinks Kitty would just have a feast. These containers are a great idea for the beta, and for his green thumb!